Don't cry to April Hunter about shrinking opportunities for women in your field.

The 28-year-old professional wrestler is in a line of work where there are few good jobs for women and sometimes the only requirements seem to be large breasts and a pretty face.

"I've been in the ring with a lot of girls that don't have an ounce of athletic ability to them but they've gotten far in this business because they look good," Hunter said recently from her home in New Haven, Conn.

Women's matches are often criticized by fans and pundits because gimmicks and appearance weigh heavily over wrestling ability.

"If we continuously give bad matches to fans they won't want to see it anymore," Hunter said.

"If you give good matches ... wrestling fans are wrestling fans and they don't care if you're male or female."

She said North American fans are conditioned to crave matches that involve beautiful women -- and usually one that's stripped down to her underwear.

"What you have to do is find girls that look good and can deliver in the ring (but) usually it's one or the other," said Hunter, who's in the city for two Action Wrestling Entertainment shows tomorrow and Wednesday. They'll mark her first trip north of the border.

Hunter got into wrestling after she graced the pages of Playboy magazine in 1999. WCW spotted the layout and she quickly became a valet for the NWO.

Both WCW and ECW ceased operations while she was training to become a wrestler, and she's been touring the rugged independent circuit since.

"I wanted to know if my body actually worked or if it just looked like it worked," said Hunter, who's also a fitness competitor and model.

Tomorrow's show is a pay-per-view taping while Wednesday's will be part of an AWE Overload episode on The Fight Network. Both events are at the Investors Group Athletic Centre at the University of Manitoba.

Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, Kidman and several other stars from WWE and WCW past are scheduled to appear.